Nor was the tour's ending a mystery. Elmwood-Murdoch shot lights out. For you math majors, here's the breakdown: 62 percent from the field, 83 percent from three-point range and about 70 percent from the line. Add it up and get a 59-48 win.

Salving those wounds will take some time for the Crusaders, especially seniors Jake O'Connor, Mike Buck, Luke Wagoner, Sam Bolton and Ethan Krolikowski. But any kid who has ever tipped it off, knows that somebody will win and somebody will not.

About this time adults and newspaper columnists will talk about building character and learning life's lessons, all of which are true. That's why we talk about them.

But when you're 18 and a couple lay-ups and a long one from being right there, inside the golden ring, you don't see building blocks; you hurt. And then not so much.

If you play high school sports and put it on the line and get to the finals, you get to learn that last part.

So somewhere in there is a lesson, however painful.

But let's not forget the ride, the three-day, three-gym, heart-in-your-larynx, pass the vitamin water, incredible ride. The absolute joy of the tour started in Thursday's quarterfinal against Deshler at Southeast where the magic of a once-in-a-lifetime, game-ending 22-1 run brought down a packed house.

The Crusader comeback was a hot topic of conversation Thursday night. One fan I talked to later at Devaney refused to believe me, his world rocked by the news.

"What? They were down 10. Late!"

For Friday's encore, the tour moved to Pershing Auditorium, where the best game I saw all weekend unfolded like epic drama: Thunderous runs early, a second half that nearly changed the school's name to Grand Island

Cardiac Catholic and a win that will generate stories for years.

And don't forget the season before State. Saturday's finals looked like a Bill Gavers scouting report. GICC had already played two state champions, Hastings St. Cecilia and Beatrice. The Crusaders lost but were in both throughout, pushing the Class B kings, Beatrice, to overtime. Elmwood-Murdoch became the third state champ GICC played tough this year.

And with the sharp-shooting Fahey brothers, Spencer and Turner, returning along with Casey Wiens and Tommy Howard, who both gave the Crusaders good minutes for three days in Lincoln, the tour will be ready to roll next

November.

When Central Catholic Nation awakes Sunday morning, sure, the loss will linger. That's natural.

But as the magic of this year fades, there is one thing to remember: What a ride.

Blue Hawks 'D up' for C-2 crown

If a basketball game is the accumulation of hundreds of plays, then each is critical in its own way.

With just less than six minutes left in the C-2 final, Hastings St. Cecilia senior Riley Nikkila decided to test that theory. In a frenetic 15 seconds he stole the ball twice from Bennington, acrobatic thefts for which he gladly took the rap. He added two run out lay-ups on long passes from teammate Jake Hamburger and the Blue Hawks were on their way to the school's first state championship in nearly 40 years, a 50-43 victory over Bennington.

St. Cecilia's stingy defense went a long way in holding Bennington to 27 percent shooting. The Blue Hawks needed the help. They had their own woes at the foul line, where they only threw in a Ben Wallace-like 52 percent.

The difference was defense, however, with St. Cecilia playing passing lanes to perfection, the solution of which is the back door, a sleight of foot as difficult to master as it is sneaky. Bennington never did.

The result: A big shiny on its way to St. Cecilia's trophy case.